Comment: I got this book the last time I was at the library. The cover shows the Portuguese edition, which actually uses a poster from a film adaptation of this book into a 2016 french movie. I had no expectations at all, since I had never heard of the author, but the obvious fact the setting was the Nazi occupied France was reason enough to convince me. After all, the WWII is a time in history that was harsh but quite inspiring in literature.
In this adventure, we have the biographic story of the author, Joseph Joffo, as he traveled to France with his older brother Maurice to try to reach the south, where the Nazi influence wasn't as heavy as in Paris. The fascinating part is that they did it while being 10 and 12 years old.
I won't take too long to comment on this book, it is apparently used in french schools and has won a prize back in the 70s, when it was originally published. Recently, a movie was made and I can assume that is why more attention has come to it as well. At least, before seeing the over of the book I had not heard of it at all.
The book is a biography but also a little bit of history through the eyes of a child.
I liked the book but I have to say the view it offers is quite simplistic. If one is looking for an angsty or overly dramatic tale, this is not it. On the other hand, it does look a little too reductive of the serious issues people faced back then, as if the problems weren't that big or serious since the author focuses on his highs and wins rather than the losses.
I suppose it's a matter of perspective: those that read between the lines can certainly glimpse the power of the simplest sentences and situations but it's not as dramatic as one could imagine.
I've read a critique that the author wrote the book as if he was still a little boy or, at least, thinking of little boys reading it and that for grown ups it's not as moving. I can understand that point of view but I wouldn't agree the target audience could/should be just children...
For me, the biggest issue and why I didn't enjoy the book more is that the bright side of seeing such a task as an adventure (the boys' travel through France to reach older brothers) meant that things happen so quickly, the things they did were almost too unlikely to be believable and some of the impact was lost for me because of that.
When something dangerous happened, the way things were told, it looked easy, simple, manageable... but I can't really envision scared young children would be so easily resourceful, no matter how clever or quick on their feet they were.
There is some loss in the book and those parts sounded quite touching, especially because the author would say something like "we didn't imagine it would be the last time...." or similar clichés. The book ends relatively well in terms of survival for the author and his family in such dire years.
I kind of liked reading this story and a few scenes/situations were good enough to make me grade this positively. However, it could have been better.
I liked the author's note in the end, where he explains a few things, adds a bit more of information... I think it helped to give me a different idea of what he went through.
Grade: 7/10
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